One Mistake
by Ky0shi27
Summary: Mizuki is a criminal psychologist for the Japan police force. Can her knowledge of psychology help L crack the Kira case? Is intelligence really the key to winning? It's a possibility...Then again, it could all come down to just one, single mistake.
1. Dear Diary

**Author's note- Hey guys! I originally had this chapter planned but decided to use a different one with less details at first. I was hesitant to put this chapter up but the PG version kinda ruined my introduction. This is a death note fic so I guess it's only fitting I ditch the PG version that was up and replace it with what I originally planned. The PG version didn't really fit well anyway.**

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My hands were sweaty as I clutched my books to my chest. My legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I could only stand there, staring down the empty hallway. The sound of screams echoed through the hallway.

 _Bang, bang, bang_

The screaming stopped. Silence. Why was it so silent? I could feel my heart pounding a million miles per second in my chest. My hands were shaking.

 _Bam_

I jumped and looked in front of me with wide eyes. I tried to calm myself down. Thank god it was only my books. I hadn't even realized that they had fallen from my grasp.

 _Bang, bang, bang_

More silence. I had to get out of here! I took a shaky step back and frantically tried to find an escape. Footsteps echoed from my left. I gasped for air. The footsteps were getting closer. With shaky hands I bent down to grab one of my books. Why the hell was I even wasting time to grab a damn book?

 _Bam_

That wasn't from me this time. The noise had came from my left. It was close. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me. I finally found the courage to run. I don't think I've ever ran so fast in my life. My legs felt like they were going to give out. I was gasping in air but I could still feel my body craving for oxygen.

I saw my classroom in the distance. I sped up faster and skidded to a stop. My sweaty hands grasped at the doorknob. It was locked. I couldn't stop the tears that were falling down my face. I pounded on the door.

"Let me in! Please just let me in!" I shouted.

There was no response from the other side. I could still hear the footsteps coming in my direction.

"Let me the fuck in! I'm going to fucking die!" I shouted pounding both my fists on the door.

The footsteps stopped this time at the sound of my screaming. I started hysterically crying. The footsteps started again but this time at a faster pace.

"God damn it! Fuck you, I'm going to die and it's all your fault" I shouted before turning from the door and sprinting away. I was going to die. They were going to let me die!

I felt like my body was going to give up on me but I kept pushing forward. I rounded a corner. Something gripped the back of my shirt and I was yanked backward. I went to scream but a hand covered my mouth. I panicked. I flailed my limbs around trying to get out of the person's grip. They were whispering something but I couldn't make out the words. After a couple of seconds my brain started working again. My brain finally registering what the person was saying.

"Mizuki! Mizuki! Shhh, shhh its okay. It's just me!" A familiar voice whispered.

"Daisuke!" I cried in relief.

"It's okay. Calm down. We can't let him hear us" he whispered. How could he be so calm at a time like this? Why was he here in the bathroom?

"When I heard what was happening I had to come find you" Daisuke told me when he saw my confused look.

I had left in the middle of class to grab the homework that I forgotten at lunch. I couldn't believe it. He actually left the safety of the classroom just to make sure I was safe.

"Stupid! You're stupid" I said, trying to wipe away my tears and snot.

"Yea, maybe I am" he said with a small laugh, "No more talking, we can't let him hear us. Follow me" he said grabbing my hand and leading me into one of the bathroom stalls. He slid the metal lock on the stall and we sat quietly in the handicap stall.

Bang bang bang

I gripped harder on Daisuke's hand. I tried to stay quiet but I couldn't get myself to stop breathing so loud. I held a hand over my mouth but I needed air. I needed more air. Why did it feel like I wasn't getting enough air!?

 _Creaaaaak_

The bathroom door slowly creaked open. Those horrifying, steady footsteps echoed in the bathroom. I froze in fear. I could feel Daisuke's hand squeezing my hand in a death grip.

 _Bam bam bam_

The handicap door shook from the force.

 _Bam bam bam_

The scrawny lock wasn't made to withstand the pressure.

"Thank you" Daisuke whispered, squeezing my hand again. Why was he thanking me?

 _Bam bam bam_

The door flew open.

There was no escape. We were trapped. Daisuke's hand ripped away from mine and he flew forward. He landed a punch on the man before he was hit over the head. He crumpled to the ground.

"Daisuke!" I shouted. Tears were clouding my vision. I looked at the man in front of us.

"Hibiki Adachi" Daisuke frantically shouted to me.

 _Hibiki. Hibiki Adachi. Hibiki Adachi._

The name echoed in my mind.

"Mizuki! Hurry! Do it!" Daisuke shouted. He was back on his feet. He held his hands spread out from his side. My eyes widened. He was using his body as a shield.

 _What did he mean? What was I suppose to do again? Why couldn't I remember?_

My back was pushed against the wall. I felt trapped with no where to go. My hands trembled. I tried to move my arms but my body wouldn't listen to me.

"Kurou" I whispered. I must have been delusional at this point.

 _I'm sorry._

 _Bang bang bang_

Daisuke took a step forward before his body fell forward.

The book I was clutching onto dropped to the ground. I fell to my knees.

"DAISUKE!" I shouted. He didn't move.

 _Please be alive! No. No. NO!_

I couldn't move. A small puddle of blood was gathering around Daisuke on the floor. He was my only friend! This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. Thoughts flashed through my mind like the speed of lightening.

Daisuke couldn't leave me! This was suppose to be our last day before break. We already had our whole summer break planned out. Daisuke and I were going to go to his house and have a movie marathon. We were going to swap our manga collection and stay up all night. I was even able to convince Daisuke to be my goalkeeper so he could help me practice soccer. He wasn't the athletic type so it had really meant something when he agreed to help me. But now...

 _He wasn't dead! He couldn't be dead!_

Daisuke was fine. He was okay. He... he was dead! He was dead and it was all my fault! We were never going to be able to do all those things. I was never going to see him again!

A noise broke me from my thoughts. Hibiki was stepping over Daisuke's body, inching his way toward me. He stopped a couple of steps away. I pushed my back further against the wall. He raised his gun. My eyes were stuck staring straight down the hollow barrel of the gun. Hibiki was going to kill me. I tore my eyes away from barrel and looked up at his face. My breath stopped. His eyes held a phychotic look to them and his lips were stretched out into a smirk. The look made me panic even more. I was going to die. This was the end.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the bullet.

 _Silence_.

It was taking too long. I couldn't handle waiting anymore. Why wouldn't he just hurry up and pull the damn trigger?

A shout pierced the air. I heard the gun clatter to the floor. My eyes flung open. Hibiki was frantically grasping at his shirt in pain. His sudden screams of pain startled me. I couldn't understand what the hell was going on. Our eyes locked one last time before he fell down to the ground and took his last breath.

He was dead.

 _What the hell was going on?_

He was dead and I was alive.

I clutched the fabric of my shirt over my heart. I couldn't move. I don't know how long I was frozen in my spot. I could hear the sound of sirens going off in the distance. I didn't dare to move.

Suddenly I heard voices all around me. Someone pulled me up from the floor and placed something around my shoulders. How long had I been sitting there for? It had felt like only seconds.

I was in a daze as they led me out of the bathroom. The next thing I knew I was sitting on the edge of an ambulance. There was a crowd of people around me but I couldn't make out any faces. Everything around me was fuzzy. My brain couldn't make sense of what was going on. I felt lightheaded. Darkness was creeping into the corners of my vision.

Right before I passed out I heard a voice speaking over the police radio.

 _"The school shooter is no longer a threat. It's safe to clear out the school. The shooter appears to be a boy named Hibiki Adachi. No prior medical issues. The cause of death... a heart attack"._


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I just wanted to clarify that the OC doesn't have anything romantic going on with Matsuda. They don't have a crush on each other. They are just good friends. They are together a lot at work because they are close in age and they get along really well.**

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Chapter 1:

"Hey Mizuki! Over here!" Matsuda shouted waving his hands above his head in an attempt to get my attention. I shot him a wave back and quickly made my way over to him.

"Hey Matsuda. Where's the chief at?" I asked. I was normally the last person to show up so it was unusual for us to be waiting for him.

"He was here earlier but he disappeared somewhere to take an important phone call. Do you think we should just save him a seat?" Matsuda asked confused. I fished my phone out of my pocket and flashed the display screen on to check the time.

"Yea, let's head in awhile. The Chiefs probably been to a million of these conferences. I'm sure he'll find us easy enough" I said shoving the phone back in my pocket. I grabbed a headset from one of the baskets near the entrance and we made our way through the door.

I was a little relieved when I saw the layout of the conference room. This was my second time attending one of these conferences. It was set up similar to the last time I was here and it made it a lot easier to navigate through the room. The chairs were lined in a pattern of rows. Each chair had a desk attached with blank sheets of paper, a water bottle, and a glass. At this point almost all of the seats were already claimed.

Matsuda and I silently walked down the isles until we were able to find our designated section. I sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out a pen. Matsuda sat down in the chair next to mine and saved an open seat for Mr. Yagami on his right. The conference was going to be starting soon so I tried to get myself situated.

I awkwardly fumbled around with the headset in my hands, trying to adjust them to a suitable size. I don't know if it was because I was a girl or if I just had an abnormally small head but my headset always seemed to be adjusted twenty sizes too big. After my third attempt to adjust the headset to my head size, I was finally able to get them positioned comfortably. Just in time for them to start the beginning of the meeting.

The random chatter in the room halted instantly and everyone quickly turned their attention to an older man in the front row. I recognized this man from the last conference I attended. I think he might have been the chief of the FBI department. I was pretty bad at remember names though so there was no way I was going remember his. I decided that I would just call him Mr. FBI in case anyone back at the police department asked me about any details.

"There have been 52 deaths that we are aware of and that's just in the past week. Every single one of them involved a heart attack. They were all criminals that were either being held in prison or wanted from police for outstanding crimes. I think it's safe to say there are other criminals who's deaths are unaccounted for. In which case the death count could be well over 100" Mr. FBI's voice announced into our headsets.

There was a short pause in information. I noticed the chief was now slipping into his seat beside Matsuda and I gave him a small wave to acknowledge his arrival.

A man in the front decided to voice his thoughts, "At any rate, these were criminals that were probably facing execution sooner or later perhaps we shouldn't-"

"Why should it matter whether it's a criminal or someone innocent? Last time I checked murder was still murder!" Mr. FBI interrupted, slamming his fists dramatically on his desk.

I smiled at Mr. FBI's response. I didn't know him personally. From the way he spoke you could tell he was passionate about doing what was right though. You could clearly hear the emotions that were laced within his words. He wasn't afraid to let others know when something was unjustified. I admired that about him.

But that was all the attention I was going to give him right now because this was the point where I stopped listening and started thinking. It wasn't worth listening to them bickering back and forth and it's not like I was going to get a chance to talk in this meeting. It was always the important people who did all the talking. Everyone else was suppose to shut up and listen.

I put my pen to my lips. I was sorting through all of the information in my head about the mysterious deaths. I didn't have a lot of information but the information I did have was significant to my area of expertise. I was a criminal psychologist for the Japan police force. If this turned out to be a homocide, the fact that this person or organization was targeting criminals could be a huge lead. This information alone could be one of the key factors in determining the criminal's profile.

"Uh, chief? What's this L they're talking about?" Matsuda asked.

At the mention of L's name my head snapped up and I locked my gaze onto my two co-workers.

"I can't believe you've never heard of L! He's literally the greatest detective in the world!" I exclaimed butting into their conversation.

"The greatest detective in the entire world? Really?" Matsuda asked, turning his attention to me.

"Yea and guess what?" I said leaning forward with a sly smirk, "I also heard a juicy rumor that he's incredibly handsome. With perfect skin, pearly white teeth, and striking blue eyes" I said with a goofy grin stretching across onto my face. I couldn't help it, it's hard to act serious when someone like Matsuda works along side you. But I wasn't lying about the rumor I heard. There has been a lot of talk lately, mainly from the female population, about what the great detective L must really look like.

"Oh, Uhh...really?" Matsuda asked awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Chief Yagami cleared his throat and gave Matsuda a look.

"Ignore Miss Mizuki, she always has an overactive imagination when it comes to L" He said with a sigh, "The truth is we still don't know what L looks like. In fact we don't even know L's real name or whereabouts. However he's managed to solve every case he's taken on and he's tackled some of the greatest mysteries this world has ever known. He hides in the shadows but he's the best of the best. A last resort. Our trump card" He explained.

"But I've heard this L is extremely arrogant and from what I understand he'll only take on cases that he's personally interested in!" A man spoke out through our headset.

"That's right! Besides, we don't even know how to contact him" another guy joined in.

"L is already on the move" a mysterious voice echoed throughout the room. Everyone in the room instantly became silent. We quickly turned our attention to sound of the voice. A man stepped out from the shadows that were lingering in the far right corner of the room. His shoes clattering against the tiles of the floor with each step. I inched closer to the edge of my seat and leaned forward against my desk.

"Gentlemen, L has already begun his investigation into these incidents" The man spoke. That's when I heard someone in the room loudly gasp out the name "Watari" in a startled voice.

I wasn't sure how someone managed to distinguish this particular man as being Watari. The man was wearing a bulky dark trench coat. His matching hat had large edges and it was worn in a way that perfectly concealed his face away from our probing eyes. The outfit completely masking away any clues of his physical appearance

"Huh, who's that?" Matsuda asked.

"That mans the only known person who can contact L. Nobody knows his true identity either" Chief Yagami explained.

"Please be silent, L would now like to address the delegates" Watari announced. He placed a laptop down in front of us and opened the screen. The image on the laptop synced with the large screen behind him. Both screens displaying a white screen with an elaborate symbol of the letter L.

"Greeting to all of you at the ICPO. I am L" His contorted voice flowed through the speakers, "The difficulty in this case lies in its unpresidented scope. We are witnessing an atrocious act of mass murder. One that is unforgivable and cannot be solved without the full cooperation of the ICPO. That is all of the police operations that you represent all throughout the world. You need to make the decision to fully support the investigation at this meeting. Also I require additional cooperation from Japan's National Police Agency" L explained.

"Hey, wait a second! Why did you exclusively mention Japan?" I shouted jumping up from my seat.

"Yes, why Japan in particular?" Yagami called out. His mature tone of voice came out sounding calm and professional. Knowing the Chief there was no doubt in my mind that he was intending to make up for my more juvenile response.

"Whether the guilty party is an individual or a group, there's a strong possibility that they're Japanese. And even if they're not we can be sure their hiding in Japan" L answered.

I stole a glance to my right. Matsuda and the Chief were both standing up next to me.

"What is all this based on?" Chief asked.

"Why Japan you ask? I think I'll be able to provide you with proof of that after I directly confront the company" L stated in a confident tone.

"A direct confrontation? Sweet!" I whispered with an excited grin.

"Mizuki!" Chief warned in a hushed voice.

"Ehem, sorry sir" I whispered shutting my mouth and sitting back into my chair.

"At any rate I would like to set up the investigation at headquarters in Japan" L said officially bringing the conversation to an end.

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"Hello L, my name is Z. I have a doctorate in criminal psychology and I have an uncanny talent for being able to read people like they are an open book." I said as a smirk splayed across my face, "Although I'm sure I don't have to tell you about that. I have built quit the reputation after all." I said confidently flipping a piece of my hair behind my shoulder.

 _'My dreams that are dreams that no one else can ever see. I sacrificed all the things that I didn't really need'_

I let an aggregated sigh escape my lips and flipped open my phone.

"What do you want Matsuda, I was in the middle of something important" I whined as I turned away from my mirror.

"Hey Mizuki! Sorry but Chief wanted me to call you to make sure you are actually on time today" He said in his usual cheerful voice.

"Yea, yeah. I'm getting ready now" I said rolling my eyes, "And just so you know, I really don't appreciate you interrupting my practice introduction!" I said snapping my phone shut and shoving it in my pocket.

I glanced over at the digital clock and sighed. I hated to admit it but if it weren't for Matsuda calling I probably would have been cutting it close again. I also hated that he was able to suck away my nervous energy. His personality always seems to have this effect on me, it's probably one of the reasons why he was deemed my favorite co-worker.

I walked over to my desk and unplugged my laptop. I grabbed my bag and shoved the laptop and charger inside. After taking one more glance at myself in the mirror I hoisted the strap onto my shoulder and made my way outside.

I didn't own a car so today I was walking to work. I'm putting emphasis on the walking part. Normally I'm frantically running down the streets like a crazy person. I guess you can say I'm not the type of person that gets to places early. In fact, no matter how hard I try, I usually find myself getting to places exactly on the dot. That's probably why I know that if I continue to walk at this pace, I should arrive to work exactly three minutes early.

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I looked at my watch and grinned at the time. Just like I thought, I had three minutes before my shift started.

"Hey, you actually managed to get here early today. I should call you in the morning more often" Matsuda called out with a goofy grin.

"Yeah right, like you had anything to do with it" I said with a laugh.

I sat down at the empty desk next to him and started to set up my laptop. I browsed through a couple of different folders until I found the files I was searching for. I clicked them open and turned to look at Matsuda.

"I'm going over the criminal profile with the chief today. Do you want to check it out quick?" I asked him with a grin.

"Really? Yea, let me see it!" He exclaimed, scooting his chair next to mine.

Matsuda was considered the newbie here at the police force and I was assigned as his office buddy. He stuck by my side when the chief was busy with his higher management duties. I couldn't help him out on the field but we were the only ones who worked well together in the office. Apparently his personality was just a little too much for the older force members.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

"Impressive! I didn't realize it was possible to get all these details from the little information we had" he said in a surprised voice.

"Thanks. It isn't complete yet but once we find out more information I'll be able to eliminate some of the possibilities" I explained with a smile, "Human Psychology is really amazing. Just one small action can end up revealing a big piece of a person's personality".

"Are people really that easy to figure out?" He asked with a sheepish smile.

"Well, most people are easy to figure out. You can read them like an open book. Even predict how they will respond to certain situations" I said, "Theres always the exception though. The few people that psychology seems to be pointless against. The rare gems" I explained.

If people weren't so predictable then human psychology wouldn't exist. If psychology didn't work so well, I wouldn't have a job. I haven't met anyone yet that left me completely lost or confused.

So if I somehow found one of those rare gems, I knew that I would try my hardest to hold on to it. They were valuable. They had the ability to change the world. And If I couldn't hold onto it, I would find a way to protect it.


	3. Chapter 2

**Authors note- Hey guys! I decided to just post this chapter because it was taking me forever to write out. I realize I'm a little slow transitioning things from my head to paper. I don't want to rush through the story but I don't want to waste all this time writing out information that you guys obviously already know. Also- If anyone has time to give constructional feedback on the flow of writing or wording, that would be really helpful! Those are two things I feel like I'm struggling on when writing in first person point of view.**

 **\+ I also wanted to Shout out to a Guest for being my first review! I really appreciate it and it felt awesome to get a comment haha. So thank you! If you end up reading this note you should let me know your username so I can give you a proper call out :)!**

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Chapter 2:

The soundproof room that I was sitting in held an eerie silence. The only noise came from the keys on my laptop. I could hear every letter clicking loudly beneath my fingertips.

I wasn't usually this self conscious of how loud I was typing. I'm pretty sure that the Chief staring a hole through my head probably had something to do with it though.

I cleared my throat. I couldn't take the silence.

"You know, it's considered rude to stare like that" I joked looking up to steal a glance at him. The Chief seemed to blink out of his daze long enough to give me a small chuckle.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I always seem to forget how different you act when you give your reports" he said relaxing back into his chair.

"Hm, you're right" I said with a grin, "People don't typically take my information seriously if I don't act professional. I'm sure Matsuda is good proof of that" I said with a laugh.

"Yes, now that you mention it, that makes perfect sense" he said with the smallest smirk. "Alright enough chatter, lets hear what you've got."

I grinned and gave him a nod.

"Here" I said handing him a folder with a copy of my notes. He flipped through the pages to skim the amount of content before giving me his full attention.

"You already know the details of the case so I'll skip right to the profile. Whoever is killing people is taking criminal punishment into their own hands. This indicates that they believe the judicial system is not punishing criminals correctly. The suspect believes they are above the law. I believe the suspect is either religiously killing criminals because he believes god has chosen him to place judgment or believes that he himself is god. Both indicate a god-like complex which is a common result of someone who is narcissistic" I said looking up from my laptop.

"So you believe we should be looking for someone who has narcissism? How would we go about identifying someone who is a narcissist?" Chief asked.

"Well, that's the hard part. Narcissists can easily slip by undetected because they don't appear to be 'sick' or 'mentally ill'. And in their daily lives narcissists behave in a manner that is expected of them rather than how they truly feel. They also tend to be charming and charismatic. They are easily seen as likable and well-qualified...However there are some minor details that I suppose you could look for. They usually have rocky relationships. Which means they most likely won't have any long term friendships or close friends. They like to be in power and are usually quick to become leaders. They most likely have good hygiene and take care of their physical appearance" I explained.

"So you're saying that we should look for someone who is well liked and appears perfectly normal?" He asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately yes. This person has a perfect murder system. If they wanted to they could have easily spread out the murders and no one would have even suspected that the deaths were the result of murder. With them wiping out a large number of high profile criminals it's likely they wanted the murders to be acknowledged. They want their message heard. Honestly, it's the perfect example of your typical narsassict serial killer. And that's the problem. A narcissist serial killer's profile will reflect their inner personality and not the mask that they show to fit in with society. They are incredibly hard to find and are impossible to convict without solid physical evidence" I explained. The Chief let out a frustrated sigh.

"I see, is that everything?" He asked running a hand through his hair.

"At the moment, yes" I said.

"Understood. Good work Mizuki" Chief said standing up from his chair.

"Thank you Chief" I said with a smile. He walked to the door but once his hand touched the handle he paused.

"Oh and one more thing... I'd like you to be the one who reads this report to L" the Chief said before opening the door and walking out.

The door latch clicked shut. I was left in the room alone. I let out a groan and put my head down on my hands. The Chief had waited until he was almost out the door to say anything. He knew I would need some time to process this.

Reading my report to L meant reading it in front of the entire task force. I was happy that he wanted me to take credit for my work. I was confident in my profile. But let's just say that if I were Superman... Public speaking would be my Kryptonite.

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 _Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out._

"Mizuki!" Matsuda whispered elbowing me in the side. I quickly shot up from my seat with wide eyes. _Breath in_. I could feel everyone's eyes focused on me and I nervously clutched my fists. _Breath out_. All I have to do is read what I wrote on my paper to L. _Breath_ _in_.

"After analyzing the details available I was able to create a profile for Kira... I am confident with the results and I believe it will prove to be useful information when investigating suspects" I explained to the room. _Breath_ _out_. My words came out sounding confident but my hands were shaking. As long as I read my paper I knew I could make it through this. _Breath_ _in_. I looked down at the paper in my hands and a choking noise escaped my throat.

 _This can't be happening! No, no, no!_

"U-um" I stuttered. I stared down at my hands at a loss for words. Each hand was holding a ripped half of my crumbled report. I shoved my hands behind my back to get rid of the evidence.

"Uh... so..." I mumbled. I could feel my cheeks starting to burn.

My mind felt like a scrambled mess. I knew what I wanted to say but my brain couldn't come up with the right words. This was embarrassing. I was such an idiot. I needed that damn paper to make my report. I couldn't talk or think coherently without it. I couldn't trust my disoriented brain. Who knows how this could effect the case. I could accidentally mess up key details of the profile.

I need to think. _Breath_ _in_. I can do this. _Think, think, think!_

I'll just stare at my desk and pretend I'm alone. Yes, that's a good first step and... An excuse. Yes that's it! I just need an excuse. It's better than ruining the profile with inaccurate information. _Breath_ _out_. I cleared my throat.

"And that concludes my profile. If you have any questions please feel free to ask" I said faking a confident voice. The room was completely silent. From the corner of my eye I saw the chief put his head down in disappointment.

"I seemed to have missed the information containing the actual profile, Miss Mizuki, could you please repeat that" The contorted voice replied in a calm tone. Great, he even knows my name! How did he know my name?

"Oh, I apologize. How strange... Your wifi signal must have a weak connection" I said with a nervous laugh.

"There's no need for excuses. I was already aware of your atrocious speech skills before we began" L explained. I should have expected that. How did he know that though? Did the Chief tell him that? No wait, that's not important right now.

"Oh, I see. Well this awkward. um, sorry?" I said scratching the back my head "I'll just make this quick and to the point... I believe we are looking for someone who is a narsist. Have you heard of Ted Bundy?" I asked.

"A narcissist serial killer. I believe that works well with my observations. Yes, our suspect seems to be driven by an idealistic notion of justice. It's highly possible he may even aspire to be some kind of god like figure. I'm interested in seeing the reasons that made you believe our suspect is a narcissist" L said. I opened my mouth to try to explain my theory in detail but L cut me off.

"I said see, not hear" L explained in a blunt tone, "Mr. Yagami please make sure to give Mizuki's profile report to Watari before he leaves. Now... please continue with the next report"

I sat back down in my seat and Matsuda awkwardly gave me a pat on the back.

I sighed as I thought about the scene I just made. I made myself look like an idiot. I disappointed the chief and my superiors. And judging from the glares focused in my direction, I most likely annoyed half the task force. But I guess it could have been worse.

"Uh, right. Does anyone else have something they would like to add?" The Chief asked.

"Uuuh, yes sir" I heard Matsuda speak up beside me. He had his hand raised up but he looked a little hesitant. Maybe I had spoken too soon.

"What is it Matsuda?" the Chief asked.

Matsuda collected himself and stood up.

"Um... well I'm not saying this to support Kira or to condone the murders but..." he trailed off looking down, "...In the last few days throughout the world, especially here in Japan... we've observed a dramatic decrease in the number of violent crimes committed" he explained.

Whispers and mumbles filled the room. Most of the members looked exasperated with his statement.

"Uh... right... I suppose it makes sense" the Chief said crossing his fingers together in front of him, "We suspected something like that would happen... Anything else?"

"No" Matsuda said quietly. He sat back in his chair and looked down at his desk. I could tell he was conflicted and upset about bringing up the information. I decided to copy his gesture to me from before and gave him an awkward pat on the back for comfort.

"Well that about sums up our report for today... L?" the Chief questioned.

"Thank you everyone. I feel we're one step closer to finding Kira. Before I go I'm afraid I have one additional request to make. This is directed to the teams that are investigating the victims. I would like you to go back and take a closer look at the exact way in which the victims identity were made public. Be as thorough as possible. In particular, I want to know if photos of the victims were made available to the public in Japan... I'll leave it to you" L said before cutting off the communication.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Sorry I'm late!" I shouted bursting through the cafe doors. I scanned through the people in the cafe for a familiar face.

"Mizuki! Over here sweetie!" My mom called with a laugh. I smiled and made my way over to her table.

Her call for attention wasn't exactly necessary. She hardly blended in with the crowd. Her dark red hair and emerald eyes made her almost impossible to miss in Japan. Before we moved here I had been disappointed that I had been stuck with my father's brown eyes. Now that I'm in Japan, I just feel lucky that I can blend in easier.

"Late like always I see" she said as I sat down and grabbed the menu.

"Yea, sorry. I got caught up at the office" I said with a sigh.

"Hard case?" She asked sipping her tea.

"Yea, you have no idea" I said fidgeting around with the sugar packets.

"I can tell" she said eyeing the sugar in my hands, "You always work way too hard... When are you going to find a cute man to start taking care of you?" She said in a joking tone. My eyes widened for a second before narrowing at her.

"Moooooom" I whined, rolling my eyes.

"I'm only joking" she said with a laugh, "But I still haven't met this cute Matsuda guy that you're always talking about"

"Don't get any ideas, he's just a friend" I said, "And I never said he was cute!" I said with a huff.

"Hello, Is there anything I can get you to drink?" A waiter interrupted. I silently thanked her and glanced at the menu.

"Uh, Yea. Can I get a coffee with extra shots of espresso please" I said.

"And would you like another tea ma'am?" The waiter asked my mom.

"Yes, thank you" she replied. I waited until the waitress left before I began talking again.

"So, is dad coming to meet up with us next week?" I asked.

"He's going to try his best. He really wanted to come tonight but he's been so busy lately" she said with a worried sigh.

"Don't worry mom. I understand" I said with a small smile.

After a couple of minutes the drinks we ordered were set down in front of us. We sat in the small cafe for awhile and talked about the little things in life. We sipped on our drinks and ate our dessert. It was the same as every other week that we got together. It was nice.

I glanced at the clock that was hanging on the cafe wall and silently groaned.

"Alright, I should probably get home. I have to go into work early tomorrow" I said with a pout.

"Alright Dear. Don't work too hard, okay?" She said as we both stood up.

"I won't" I lied, rolling my eyes.

"I love you, I'll call you tomorrow" she said reaching over and giving me a hug. I laughed and gave her a big squeeze back.

"I love you too, stay safe... oh and don't forget to tell dad to stay safe too" I said pulling away with a smile.

"I will, goodnight Mizuki" she said smiling back.

"Night, See you later!" I said turning around with a wave.

I didn't live too far away so I decided to walk home. It was going to take me a little longer to get home that way but I didn't like to waste money on cabs.

To my disappointment, the sun was already starting to set. I had originally planned to make it home before dark. It didn't look like I was going to make it home in time though.

Then again, If I ran all the way home I would only be three minutes late... _Three_ _minutes_ _late_ _wouldn't_ _be_ _too_ _bad_. I smirked before I suddenly started sprinting my way through the crowded sidewalks.

By the time I reached my front door I was out of breath. I made it home perfectly safe. I might have tripped over a couple of things and ran over a person or two but whatever. At least I wasn't wrong about being exactly three minutes late.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's note- This chapter came out a lot longer than I thought it would. I wanted to keep going until the end of the scene but it was getting way too long. So I had to cut it off for now. The editing takes way too long when it gets lengthy. Hope you guys like it though :)!**

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Chapter 3:

The last couple weeks had been exhausting. There was a killer on the loose. We barely had any leads. And the Kira case had everyone working on overdrive. The late nights and extra work had stressed us all.

Today didn't start off any better. I was in need of at least one good day in this mess but I was more than willing to settle for a good half day. We all really needed it at this point. Especially since there were only six other task members remaining on our team. A majority of the task force members had decided to choose their safety and backed out of the case just hours earlier. I had decided that I was going to work on this case no matter what but I was starting to lose hope on the end result.

That's when L decided to come in and save the other half of our day. He told us that he would finally meet up with us in person. This was a big step forward. This would make us feel less like pawns and more like a team. That's why I wasn't worried about our small numbers anymore... Well, I still was, but I wasn't going to admit it. At least I knew we had quality over quantity.

"Now what should I bring with me" I muttered looking around my room.

I spotted my drawstring bag on the floor and swiped it up. My room was slightly organized. Most of my stuff was put away but the stuff I used frequently was usually kept out in the open. This meant all of my important possessions were scattered across my floor. The floor display of items made grabbing things more efficient when I knew I was cutting my time close.

 _Notes. Pens. Paper. Prescription. Advil. Bandaids. Phone. Phone charger. ID badge. Three energy drinks. 3DS. Wallet. T-shirt. Sweatpants._

I jammed it all inside the bag. It was a close fit but I somehow managed to squash everything in. Matsuda and the Chief had told me that they weren't going to bring anything but I hated not being prepared. Every time I went empty handed somewhere I instantly regretted leaving my stuff at home.

I was a little hesitant on bringing my sweatpants but after thinking it over I decided to just bring them. I hated sitting in jeans for a long period of time and girls jeans were always uncomfortably tight. I would just have to wait and see how L's character was before I decided if I could get away with whipping them out. It wasn't like I could just leave to grab things whenever I pleased and we had no idea how long we were staying to talk to him. It could end being an all nighter.

I glanced over at the clock.

 _If I wanted to make it on time, I only had ten more minutes before I had to leave._

I tossed off my work clothes and skimmed my closet for an appropriate outfit. After staring blankly at my closet for a couple of minutes, I finally decided on a maroon tank top. I didn't want to look too casual so I also threw on a leather jacket. Then I grabbed my black skinny jeans and shimmied them up my legs.

"This should be good" I mumbled checking over my appearance in the mirror. The black in the outfit contrasted nicely with my long red hair making the color pop to life.

I always thought I was lucky. My red hair color wasn't anywhere near as eye catching as my mother's bright red locks. My hair was more of a dark red mixed with auburn. And unlike my mother's green eyes, my brown eyes didn't create such a bold statement when paired with my hair. My appearance was enough to make me easily distinguishable but not crazy enough to make me stand out drastically in a big crowd. That's the way I liked it. I would much rather blend in easier than stand out.

This probably made me a hypocrite. I liked to watch and study people but I hated it when people did the same thing to me.

 _One more minute until I had to leave._

I threw on a pair of black boots and swung my bag straps over my shoulders. I was about to walk out the door when a tube of lipstick caught my eyes. I wasn't originally planning on bringing it but...

"It could come in handy" I said with a smirk. I grabbed the lipstick and shoved it into my pocket.

"You never know, it could end up saving my life" I said with a laugh.

Of course this little gadget wasn't just a normal lipstick tube. My mother had given it to me as a moving out gift. She knew I was working with police officers and that Japan had a strict gun law. I wasn't classified as a police office. I was just an employee that worked with them. That made it illegal for me to carry a gun.

Luckily pepper spray was a grey area. It was deemed acceptable for a woman to carry for defense purposes. So my pepper spray in the disguise of lipstick was the perfect accessory.

I took one last glance at the clock.

 _Time's up._

I walked out the door and made sure to lock it up behind me. I left my apartment at the exact time I had planned. That meant I could walk to work at a leisurely pace today. It felt good to leave on time. I hated it when things threw me off my mental schedule and I hated losing my time.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Uh... why are you guys still in your work clothes?" I asked giving them the side eye.

The five men in front of me were still dressed up in their professional business suits. They hadn't even ditched the stiff jackets or dull colored ties.

"The real question is why are YOU not dressed in your work clothes? We're going to a business meeting with L!" Aizawa said irritated at my appearance.

"Yea but L wanted us in pairs of two so that we would draw less attention to ourselves... Wouldn't it be suspicious if we were all dressed up for a work meeting?" I asked confused.

"Oh, right! That's actually a good idea! I wish I would have brought some extra clothes with me" Matsuda said.

 _Good old Matsuda to the rescue._

I smirked over at Aizawa and he let out an annoyed grunt. I don't think Aizawa liked dealing with the two of us when we were together.

"Alright enough bickering. Mizuki, you and Matsuda will be the first pair to head up" the Chief said.

I gave him a thumbs up to let him know I was paying attention. I was happy that he was letting us go first. It felt like a hidden compliment. He trusted us enough to be first ones up there...But then again... It could also mean that he didn't trust me to arrive on time if we went last.

I decided to be optimistic and just take it as a compliment.

"Mogi, you and I will go up second. Aizawa and Ukita, you two will come up last" the Chief explained.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I was fricken bored. Matsuda and I had arrived in front of L's hotel door thirty minutes ago. At first we just stood there, waiting outside professionally. I think I remained in good posture for at least twelve minutes.

When I realized how long we were going to end up waiting I gave up looking professional. It's not like L had cameras out here to observe us or to watch our every move. That would just be weird.

 _What did L expect us to do this entire time anyway? Why couldn't we go inside and wait? Wasn't it more suspicious if we stood outside a hotel room waiting for the arrival of our other members?_

I was sitting down against the wall with my head tilted backwards when the Chief and Mogi finally arrived. The Chief raised an eyebrow when he saw me sitting in the hallway but he was quick to understand why I was just sitting there.

While we waited I went through all of the possibilities involving L's appearance. I sung through a couple songs in my head. I made a mental shopping list. I counted the ceiling tiles a couple times. And I silently wondered if I was going to lose my mind.

Then I heard the hotel elevator ding before the doors slid open to reveal the last two members of our group, Aizawa and Ukita.

"Thank heavens!" I said sighing in relief.

"Good, we're all here" Chief said looking down at his watch.

I picked myself up from the ground and the Chief knocked on the door.

"It's unlocked, you may come in" a muffled voice called out from behind the door.

The Chief opened the door and we were immediately greeted with a very unusual looking young man. The first thing that caught my eye were the man's bare feet and wiggling toes. The guy was wearing a plain pair of jeans and a white, baggy long sleeved shirt. His face was cute in a disheveled sort of way. He was extremely pale with prominent black bags under his grey eyes and his black hair was ruffled out in different directions.

As I studied him closer I realized his eyes and face were completely void of any emotions. As a criminal psychologist I was usually good at reading people but I found him incredibly difficult to read. The only thing I was able to pick up on was a slip of his body language. His one foot was rubbing the bottom of his pant leg and his hand was rubbing at the back of his head. He must have been uncomfortable or nervous.

"I am L" he told us in a monotone voice.

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open.

 _This guy was L?_

"Well, that's impressive" I whispered. I was expecting him to be a lot older. For him to be L he would have had to start detective work at an incredibly young age.

"He's nothing like I thought he would be" Matsuda whispered to me.

"Yea, I guess the rumors were false" I whispered back.

He definitely wasn't a sexy middle aged man with striking blue eyes. When I thought about it logically L's appearance actually made perfect sense though.

The Chief was the first one to break our awkward staring.

"I'm Yagami of the NPA" he said showing his badge.

"Uh, Matsuda"

"I'm Aizawa"

"Mogi"

"Ukita"

I reached into my pocket to grab my badge.

 _Oh crap._

It wasn't in my pocket like it normally was. I usually carried it around in my work pants. Oh, yeah! I had taken it out when I was packing. It was most likely sitting at the very bottom of my overly stuffed bag.

I already embarrassed myself once in front of L. I wasn't about to dump everything out of my bag just to get to my badge. I would definitely look like an idiot. Maybe he won't notice...If I act confident he might not pick up on my missing ID.

"Hello, You can call me Mizuki" I said with a grin.

Unlike the others I had used my first name and not my last. I wasn't sure if L had noticed but I had a feeling he had done a thorough background check on all of us beforehand. If he had, it would have explained why I barely used my last name

I had grown up in The United States and graduated high school there before my family moved to Japan for my father's work. In the US last names were usually only used to address our elders. Americans are a lot more casual with our names. A lot of them even shortened long names or resorted to nicknames. That's probably why I have never been comfortable being addressed by my last name. My last name was lame anyway so I usually just introduced myself with my first name.

L didn't seem to mind, I was pretty sure he had already found out my last name on his own anyway. It's not like it was hard to find, I just never included it to avoid confusion.

L still hadn't question my lack of ID and I took the lack of response as a good thing. That is until he raised his pointer finger up at our group.

"Bang!" L said surprising us all.

"What the hell was that?" Aizawa shouted.

"If I were Kira you'd be dead Mr. Soichiro Yagami, chief of the NPA" L stated.

"Kira needs a face and a name in order to commit murder. But I'm sure you already figured that much out, haven't you?" L asked glancing at me. Why was he directing that question towards me? My mouth opened in understanding.

"Oh, you thought I did the name thing intentionally" I slipped out with a sheepish laugh. "Yea.. that's not why I didn't show ID. Sorry" I said rubbing the back of my neck. L let out an annoyed sigh.

"How disappointing. Please do not give out your names so carelessly. Instead let's value our lives" L said earning a glare for me. I'm pretty sure that was his subtle way of calling me a disappointment.

 _Jerk!_

"I knew he needed a face to kill somebody but I don't remember any evidence that showed that he needed a name too" Matsuda said to the Chief.

"There's no way to verify this as related but criminals who's names were never released publicly or were spelled incorrectly have not been targeted. We briefly went over it at one of our meeting" Chief replied.

"That's enough small talk for now. Come this way" L said with a wave of his hand.

"Oh, uh, right" Matsuda muttered out.

"Please turn off all your cellphones, hand holds, and any other communication devices and leave them on the table over there" L said motioning to a checkered coffee table.

"What? Do you think we're going to use our cellphones during the meeting to leak information?" Aizawa asked irritated.

"Aizawa it's alright. Just do as he says" Chief said trying to calm him down.

I sighed and placed my bag in front of me. I was pretty sure my cell phone was close to the bottom of my bag. Probably sitting right next to my ID of course. I refused to empty everything out so I started digging through everything.

"Actually, please leave your entire bag on the table" L said to me, interrupting my search. I rolled my eyes when he turned to walk away and tossed my bag onto the table with the phones.

"I realize he's been cautious from the very beginning but I still can't tell if he trusts or not" Matsuda said placing his phone on the table.

"No, that's not it. I just find phones to be distracting. I can't stand it when people's cell phones are ringing when I'm trying to talk" L called out from the other room.

Everyone left the room to follow after him. I was the last one to walk into the room but I didn't end up getting very far. For some reason they were all just standing in the middle of the arch way. I peeked out from behind Mogi to see why it was taking so long. I found my answer. The great detective L had managed to catch everyone off guard and all he had to do was sit down to do it.

Well... I don't know if I would classify it as sitting. More like standing or crouching. Whatever he was doing it wasn't exactly normal. The soles of his feet were lifted up so that only the front of his feet were touching the chair. Not even his butt was touching the chair, it was like it was hovering slightly above the cushion. His knees were bent in front of him and his upper body was hunched forward. The only thing remotely normal about his position were his hands, which were causally resting on the top of his knees.

"Let me start by saying that nobody takes notes on anything that's said in these meetings. That means when we leave headquarters any information that we need is committed to memory" L explained, "Please, make yourselves comfortable" he said motioning to the seats with his eyes.

"Uh, right" the Chief said. He was the first to start moving before the rest of us filed in behind him.

The Chief, Matsuda, and Mogi claimed the couch on the right side of the table. Ukita grabbed a chair at the very end of the table. Aizawa and I claimed the last two seats on the left side of the table. Aizawa was to my left and L was to my diagonal right. L obviously being at the head of the table.

Everyone remained silent. All eyes were staring at L's every move. L used his pointer finger and thumb to gently pick up a teapot. He tipped the tea into a cup in front of him. He set down the teapot and took a single sip from his cup. His one eye twitched slightly before he set it down again.

"Do you always sit like that?" I asked trying to break the silence.

"I do" L muttered as he started piling a crap ton of sugar into his tea. I was about to ask him why he would sit like that but Matsuda decided to speak up instead.

"Excuse me, L?" Matsuda asked.

"Hm and from now on I'll have to ask that you stop calling me L. It's Ryuzaki now. Just to be safe" L announced.

"Uh, ok, Ryuzaki... If we know Kira needs a name and a face to kill, couldn't we cut down on the number of victims by keeping criminals names from the news?" He asked.

"If we do that, we'll only be putting the general public at risk" L replied.

"The general public?" Ukita asked confused.

"Why?" Aizawa asked.

"Kira is childish and he hates losing" L said as he stopped stirring and looked up.

"Just what do you mean?" The Chief asked.

"Well..." L said, eyes shifting down to his tea, "I'm also childish and I hate to lose...That's how I know" he said taking another sip of his tea.

"Ryuzaki would you mind being a little more specific for us?" The Chief asked.

"Early on in the investigation I tried to provoke Kira with that broadcast. Up until then we thought Kira would only go after criminals but as we all witnessed, he didn't hesitate to kill my stand in. Also as soon as I said we knew that he was in the Kanto region, in defiance, he made sure his next victims came from within Japan. As if to say, what are you going to do about it" L said pausing to take another sip of his tea.

"He's met each of my challenges head on and he's never missed an opportunity to return the favor. Now what do you think would happen if we tried to use media restrictions to hide criminals from someone like that?" L asked.

"I guess..." Matsuda trailed off in thought.

"Oh I get it. He would just return the favor. He would most likely start to kill off petty criminals, right?" I said looking at L, "It's even possible he would resort to targeting innocent people to make us feel guilty. Of course it would end up making us look like the bad guys because we would be the ones withholding the criminals names from him" I answered.

"That's right" L said, "I'll hold the whole world hostage, so who's it going to be? I'm not the evil one here but all those that oppose me by hiding criminals are truly evil" he said. A dramatic sigh left his lips and he shifted in his seat.

"In any case, that's how Kira thinks. Let's look at another way we can use the media to draw him out" L said changing the conversations direction.

"Hm, We could try to do something to intimidate him or scare him" I suggested.

There weren't many options we could use through the media. If we wanted a reaction from Kira, our plan had to either provoke him or intimidate him.

"But how?" Aizawa asked. I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't just come up with detailed plans at the drop of a dime.

"How about something like this" L said putting his fingers to his chin and drawing his head back, "Death of the FBI agents infuriates the US and the international policing community. Nations agree to send over fifteen hundred investigators to Japan. For Kira this will be way beyond what he faced with the FBI. He'll see everyone as a threat. Psychologically he'll start to feel cornered and that will cause him to take some kind of drastic action" L explained.

"You want to use intimidation to try to get a fight or flight response. I like it. If Kira's reaction is big enough to the threat, it could lead us to a clue" I replied.

"That-That's interesting!" Ukita said with a smile.

"So he'll think that there's 1,500 , when there's really only eight of us" Aizawa said impressed, "And since none of these investigators exists, Kira won't be able to kill them." Aizawa said with a grin.

"This just might work!" Ukita said with a wide smile. Ukita wasn't the only one smiling. The whole task force seemed excited about the plan.

It was nice to see everyone so excited for once. It didn't happen often with the Kira case going on. It was felt good to have a plan. Yet I couldn't help but wonder...

Did L have this whole thing planned out before we even got here? Or did he really come up with that detailed plan in just a matter of seconds?

Either way the plan was great and L had impressive me. I just didn't know how much more of this I could take. It made me nervous to be left in the dark about someone. Everyone on the task force had a very distinct personality. It made it easy to adjust my work style to fit with those around me.

L wasn't your average person though. He threw off my mental calculations. He was a distraction. I admired his ability to remain a mystery but I couldn't fit his unpredictable personality in with my mental plans...And I absolutely hated it when things didn't go as predicted.


End file.
